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> The US Federal debt is currently $30 trillion USD. This is never getting balanced, ever. There's only one possible eventual outcome with this system. The US

by JackFr 5y ago

> The US Federal debt is currently $30 trillion USD. This is never getting balanced, ever. There's only one possible eventual outcome with this system. The US debt to GDP ratio is currently slightly higher than it was at the end of WWII. It is significantly lower than that of Japan, who has a debt to GDP ration similar to those the UK ran during portions of the 19th century. There are very good reasons for governments should be prudent in their spending and high levels of debt are to be avoided. But no, it will never be balanced, the national debt is permanent and exists by design. > There's only one possible eventual outcome with this system. I don't think that's true, and I'm really not even sure what you're ominously hining at.

foolinaround 5y ago
> the national debt is permanent and exists by design. Can you pls point me to something about its design?
- tharne 5y ago
  If you read history books covering the time just before and after the American revolution, there was a lot of discussion of this topic at the time. A lot of the founder fathers, most notably Alexander Hamilton, believed a national debt was a good thing for the country. The belief is/was that by carrying a substantial debt, you give the bank and financial institutions skin the game and make their success tied to the success of the country. In the modern era it also gives individuals and other types of institutions a stake in the country's success. When people take about the U.S. national debt, much of the conversation goes to China and how much money we owe them. We owe them a lot, however, the biggest holders of U.S. debt are individual Americans with their 401ks and things like pension funds and university endowments.
  - JackFr 5y ago
    The largest holder of treasury bonds by far is the Social Security Trust Fund. (Which is, of course, an accounting fiction.)
- imtringued 5y ago
  Monetary savings = debt by definition. No debt no money. One should ask why money is taking a one way route though. It remains stuck in bank accounts.

by JackFr 5y ago

foolinaround 5y ago

> the national debt is permanent and exists by design. Can you pls point me to something about its design?

tharne 5y ago
If you read history books covering the time just before and after the American revolution, there was a lot of discussion of this topic at the time. A lot of the founder fathers, most notably Alexander Hamilton, believed a national debt was a good thing for the country. The belief is/was that by carrying a substantial debt, you give the bank and financial institutions skin the game and make their success tied to the success of the country. In the modern era it also gives individuals and other types of institutions a stake in the country's success. When people take about the U.S. national debt, much of the conversation goes to China and how much money we owe them. We owe them a lot, however, the biggest holders of U.S. debt are individual Americans with their 401ks and things like pension funds and university endowments.
- JackFr 5y ago
  The largest holder of treasury bonds by far is the Social Security Trust Fund. (Which is, of course, an accounting fiction.)
imtringued 5y ago
Monetary savings = debt by definition. No debt no money. One should ask why money is taking a one way route though. It remains stuck in bank accounts.